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Diamond Weevils sweep second GAC series

Thu, 03/01/2018 - 10:44amsports@monticel...

By:

Harold Coggins editor@monticellonews.net

Another weeklend, another Great American Conference sweep.
For the second consecutive league series, the University of Arkansas at Monticello Boll Weevils served notive to the rest of the GAC they’re not willing to give up their conference championship without a fight.
Moved to Melissa, Texas because of the weather in both Oklahoma and Arkansas, UAM took three games from Southeastern Oklahoma State University Sunday and Monday. The Diamond Weevils won both ends of Sunday’s doubleheader, 12-5 and 12-3, then clouted six home runs to easily grab Monday’s single game 19-9.
With the three victories, UAM improved to 10-3 overall and 6-0 in the GAC. Standing along at the top of the standings as the only unbeaten team, the Weevils get another road test this weekend at Southern Nazarene University. Friday’s single game is set to begin at 2 p.m.; first pitch for Saturday’s twinbill is slated for noon.
With the rain cancelling Tuesday’s non-conference game with Arkansas Tech University, the next time UAM will be at home is March 9-10 when Oklahoma Baptist University visits Weevils Field.
“I thought we played very well over the weekend,” UAM head baseball coach John Harvey said. “It was our first test on the road and it was against a pretty good team in Southeastern Oklahoma. Our offense has really carried us early and is giving us a chance to figure some things out on the mound.
“We are starting to show signs of pitching a little better and we are starting to figure out bullpen roles. We are still walking way too many hitters. We will need to get that figured out soon if we want to have a chance to win the league down the stretch.”
The offense was certainly on display Monday when the Weevils closed out another GAC sweep. Six different players—Andres Rios, Brady Weiss, Garrett Dodd, Dylan Borman, Jordan Johnson and Brodie Threet—all recorded long balls in the contest.
From Weiss leading off the game with a solo shot to Dodd wrapping up the home run parade in the top of the eighth with a two-run shot, UAM was in command all nine innings. The Weevils pounded out 21 hits against seven Savage Storm pitchers; Rios led the way with a 5-for-6 performance at the plate.
Seven of the nine UAM starters finished with multi-hit days. Following Rios, Wiess (3-for-7), Dodd (3-for-5) and Borman (3-for-6) all had three hits while Jordan, Threet and Sean Wagner each hit safely twice.
Jared Libke recorded his first mound win in relief as five UAM hurlers were direct beneficiaries of the monster offense. The previous day, UAM got the bats cranked up as well with 10 hits in Game 1 and 12 hits in Game 2, good for a dozen runs in each game.
Sunday’s highlight wasn’t focused on the offense, though. Fordyce senior Braden Chambers notched his 25th career win in the doubleheader opener to become UAM’s all-time career wins leader. Chambers, who earned All-American status two seasons ago, is now 3-0 this spring.
Wagner roped a pair of home runs and Johnson, Austin Brakebill and Brian Ray hit one each to back Chambers. Brakebill was the leading hitter for the Diamond Weevils, going 3-for-3.
In the nightcap, Dodd blasted a pair of long balls and Weiss and Johnson one apiece to propel UAM to the easy nine-run win. Dodd ended the day 3-for-4 at the plate.